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The interim 2026 UCAT scores contain data from the start of the 2026 testing period up to 13th September. By this point, 20,794 candidates had taken the test. It is anticipated that a further 22,000 candidates will take the test before the end of the testing period. This is a 3.5% increase on last year.
The UCAT website emphasises that: ‘Candidates should use these figures as a rough guide to judge their own performance as these numbers will change as the testing cycle progresses.’ Final data will be released after testing ends.
In the interim results for 2026, the total mean UCAT score is 1,970. Last year’s mean total was 1,891, so this year’s mean is 79 points higher.
The interim mean scores for each section are:
Verbal Reasoning – 614
Decision Making – 657
Quantitative Reasoning – 699
Comparing this year’s interim scores to last year’s final scores, all three sections have increased. Verbal Reasoning is up 12 points (602 to 614), while Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning saw bigger increases, up 29 points (628 to 657) and 38 points (661 to 699) respectively.
The interim results for Situational Judgement are:
16% scored in Band 1
42% scored in Band 2
32% scored in Band 3
10% scored in Band 4
Band 1 saw a significant increase last year, rising from 14% to 25%. This year, though, it’s dropped back to 16%, while Band 2 and Band 3 are up slightly to 42% and 32% respectively, and Band 4 is up slightly to 10%.
These are the interim deciles for the 2026 UCAT test:
1st decile – 1,630
2nd decile – 1,750
3rd decile – 1,840
4th decile – 1,910
5th decile – 1,980
6th decile – 2,040
7th decile – 2,110
8th decile – 2,190
9th decile – 2,300
There are a few significant things to note from the interim 2026 results.
An important point is the slight increase in the number of candidates sitting the UCAT, a useful proxy for the total number of expected applicants.
From 2023 to 2024, there was an increase of around 2,000 applicants to an expected total of about 38,000. Last year, UCAT anticipated a further increase to nearly 43,000 — close to a 5,000 candidate rise — though the actual final total came in lower, at 41,354.
This year, UCAT is anticipating a total of around 42,800 candidates — 20,794 so far plus a further 22,000 expected — an increase of roughly 1,440 candidates, or 3.5%, on last year’s actual total. Therefore while competition will increase this year, the rate of increasing competition is slowing.
UCAT has a good track record of predicting the total number of test-takers, so it is worth taking seriously.
Comparisons to previous years are hard, since UCAT removed the abstract reasoning section of the test last year. However, making a direct comparison to last year, we can see an increase of 79 in the scores for the cognitive element of the test.
If the average score is 1,970 — up 79 points, or 4.2%, on last year’s final mean of 1,891 (though it will likely drop when testing has finished), we know that for highly competitive universities, we will need to be looking at a score of at least 2,190 (up 90 on last year) to score in the top 20% and 2,300 (up 80) to score in the top 10%.
While the same number of students scored a Band 4 as in previous years, there are many medical schools, such as Hull or Kent and Medway, that state they will rule out candidates who score a Band 4 in the SJT.
Fewer students scored a Band 1. As such, if you attain a Band 1 then it would be prudent to look at universities such as Nottingham – which will actively score an application based on banding of the SJT, rather than simply state they need a Band 3 or above.
Last year we saw that the actual mean UCAT score was lower than the preliminary mean score, and we expect this will probably happen again this year.
For 2025, the preliminary mean score was 1,939 and dropped to 1,891 by the end of the testing cycle, which is a fall of 48 points, or 2.5%. If the preliminary mean score is 1,970 then we would expect the actual mean score to drop by a similar rate, to around 1,920 or so.
The big picture here is that there will be slightly more competition, and a higher score is more important than ever. Unlike last year, this is driven by the higher UCAT scores required to reach the top declines and less by the raw increased number of applicants.
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